Stranded...

My cousin Julia and her beautiful family stopped at our house Saturday night on their way from Orem to Mesa. They were suppose to be here less than 24 hours... On Sunday morning they decided to drive up to see the temple before church...

Cute picture of them at the temple! The loved it. Less than 10 minutes
later this is what happened...

I NEVER take my phone to church... but on Sunday I grabbed it so i could get the RS announcements off an email that i had gotten. I was at church early because Tanner had a meeting... so was sitting in the chapel and i looked at my phone to get the announcements and there is a voice mail from Julia saying that they had been in an accident on Charleston and Marion near the temple... I called Scott who lives closer to that area and he rushed over to help... I got there a few minutes later. They were sitting at a red light and this SUV didn't see the light or something and rammed right into them! They were squished between the SUV and a big red truck. Big bummer!! They were suppose to leave for Mesa right after church. Dale is doing an internship in Mesa for the next 6 weeks...
Thank goodness everyone was OK. We took little Lucy to the ER because she had a pretty bad mark on her neck from the car seat and the paramedics insisted that she be seen.
Luckily she was just fine...

We were happy to have them stay one more night! Dale's brother came
from Mesa to pick them up in a big 12 passenger van! We had fun playing the Wii and games...

The weather was so perfect on Sunday, that we went to the park! The kids had a great time!

Jacob...

Ashley and Emma...

Dale and Lucy...

Ben...

I love my McAllister cousins!! I have so many fond memories of summer trips in Palo Alto with them. I found some pictures of us at our grandparents 50th wedding anniversary and other fun trips to Great America and Stanford mall! I will have to scan a few of them! My sister Julie and and I loved hanging with Julia and Jenna! They were a few years younger than us, but it never felt that way! It doesn't matter how many years have passed, it always
feels comfortable to be with any of the McAllisters!

Goofy Tanner and Ashley!

Joseph...

After they all crashed on the little cute little Emma said, "that was just like the car accident!"

Ashley loved the little girls!

The Andersen's after a long, emotional day...

37 lizards, 25 stink bugs, 21 switchbacks, 1488 feet

We did it!! John, Tanner and I hiked Angels Landing at Zion National Park... Remember this post last year... I quit a mile into it! This time everything went perfect... well, except for running out of water. It was hot out, but we started the hike at 5:00pm Utah time, so the sun was setting behind the mountain, we never had direct sun on us! It was great.

I was so proud of Tanner... he was a trooper. When he started getting tired we decided to count the lizards we saw... then we threw rocks off the cliffs and then we counted the sharp switchbacks! They were deadly! He isn't a big fan of heights and he did it. I wish Ashley and Mitchell could have been there! We will have to do it again for them...plus I only had my camera on my phone.. so i need to go back for better pics... these don't do the views justice!

Tanner getting sand out of his shoes...

Little did we know... the sign was true!

There was a big sections where you have to hold onto the railings...
it was a long way down! I kept saying "look at your feet and the chain... don't look to the side!"

We got to this point and we thought we were done... then someone said,
the top is over there...the top of that peak!
See how narrow that path is?? crazy

Water was about gone and Tanner was hot!

Steep!

I think I can make it!

Look how far we went!

I wish you could tell how high up he was...

a baby chipmunk... so cute. He wasn't shy...

He was so happy! He has been begging me to do this hike for years!

We made it!!

We saw this eagle (or hawk) soaring the sky! It was a perfect ending!

Missing my boy...

Mitchell is off in Utah working at Clear Creek Ranch for the summer. I miss him already!

We dropped him off on Saturday and got him all settled. George Ralph's in our ward is in charge of hiring kids to work there for the summer, so he asked Mitchell if he wanted to go. We went back and forth on deciding if we wanted him to go or not... it will be a good work experience for him, good money for his mission, good experience for his mission (no phone access, internet or family). I hope we made the right choice...

The ranch is mainly used for family reunions and youth groups. Our stake is holding a YM Trek there in a few weeks... Here is a link to their website... Clear Creek Ranch

This is where he is living...

Getting all settled in...

I made his bed and tried to put somethings away for him...

The views outside his place...

He looked a little nervous...

This is Josh who he will be working with

They have a little store, cafeteria, games, pool tables, ping pong and 4 wheelers...

We will bring him home a few times for the weekend! He gets 2 days off a week.

I love you Mitchell!! Miss you!!

house guests

It's been a crazy few days... My cute sister in law Jenn, has been put on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy... i feel so bad for her. She is only 24 weeks along... She was looking forward to summer time to spend with her 14 month old. She is a school teacher, so she had to miss the last 3 days of school. That was hard!

Anyway, we've had cute little Afton with us since Saturday and Scott and Jenn have been here since Monday. Scott had to travel for work on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we figured it would be easiest to just have Jenn come here instead of helping at her house... Afton has finally decided to go to someone besides me... that's a good thing. The poor little thing has been so confused! I haven't been able to go 2 feet from her with a scream.

I think we have a plan for the rest of June... we will have them Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays... Then Jenn's mom is off work in July, so she will be able to help out then. Wish me luck and lots of energy! There is a reason we have babies in our 20's and 30's... i am old.

heaven

We were at Town Square the other night and we turned a corner and I saw this new store!! I was in heaven until I remembered I was on a diet! I am so going back when I am having a bad day! My mouth is watering just looking at the picture! ahhh... it has all the old classic candies... like Zots! yum!

oops...

Mitchell learned an expensive lesson the other night... you can't drive very fast over the dips in the road. I can't think of the correct term for them (they don't have them in Washington... it's all underground there... there are drains every few yards that take the water underground...) , but ya know little dips here that create a path for the water to travel down the street... well Mitchell didn't quite get down to the 15 mph like the sign says... the radiator hit the road and cracked... there was a trail of water and antifreeze all the way to our house.

The volvo had to be towed away... the good news is, I have a slave for a while.

Tanner's band concert

Tanner had his final band concert of the year last week. He did a great job. He has really gotten good at the bass guitar! It's fun to watch him practice and get excited about a new song. He loves to watch tutorials on YouTube.



We are so sad the Mr. Matta is retiring this year. He is probably the best junior high band teacher in the country. For real! He teaches a lot more than band... he teaches a lot of life lessons and gains a respect from the kids like no other teacher i have seen. The kids hate him the first few weeks because he is so strict, but by the end of the year, they love and respect him. Mitchell still goes to visit him. Johnson Junior High will miss him! Thanks for all you have taught my kids Mr. Matta!!

Volleyball Season Over...

I am so sad that volleyball season is over! I loved going to the games to cheer on Mitchell and his team. They had a slow start this year... But after the coach figured out positions for everyone they started playing really good. I'm not sure what their record ended up being, but I know they won more than they lost! We beat Gorman at Gorman! That was the highlight of the season!! Gorman killed us at a preseason tournament... so we improved a lot.

This is Anna, she is a friend of Mitchell's and I love the poster she made for the last game!

Here are a few shots from the last game.

Go Bengals!

Go Mitchell!

His serve improved so much this year!

Our varsity team had a great season too. They ended up wining the district title and won the first round of the regional tournament. The coach had 2 seats open on the varsity bench for tournament, so he pulled 2 JV players up to sit with the team and get a little tournament experience. Mitchell was one of the 2 players! He was so excited! I forgot to take my camera to the games, so this one is from my cell phone... not the best quality, but he is the 4th person on the bench starting on the right...

I will anxiously await next season!

Easy life...

Don't you wish your life could be like "mam's"... I love coming home to her sunbathing on her rock! Notice how she flaps her little feet up and her head high! So cute. (don't notice how dirty my kitchen window is... maybe it's just the tank! I wish!)